South Asia: an environmental history

Description

1. The environmental setting -- Physical characteristics -- Climate -- Plant and animal life -- Cultural geography -- Early human activity.;This work is a chronological study of South Asia that emphasizes the effect of humans on their environment, and in return the influence of nature on the evolution of human society. 1. The environmental setting -- Physical characteristics -- Climate -- Plant and animal life -- Cultural geography -- Early human activity. 2. The Indus civilization and the Aryan impact -- The Indus civilization -- South India -- The Aryan migration -- The Vedic religion -- Aryan society. 3. The Mauryan empire and the Classical age -- Buddhism and Jainism -- The Mauryan empire -- Ashoka and ecology -- Irrigation in early India -- The classical period -- Hinduism -- The decline of the Classical period. 4. Imperial interlude -- South India -- Agrarian practices in South India -- Peasant options in hydraulic South India -- Vijayanagar -- Islam -- Islam and ecology -- The advent of Islam -- The Delhi Sultanate -- Environmental change in medieval India -- The transition from medieval to early modern. 5. The rise and fall of the Mughal empire -- Akbar -- Sikhism -- The later Mughal emperors -- The decline of the Mughal empire -- The British East India Company -- Conclusion. 6. Company rule -- Utilitarianism -- Difference -- Scientific validation -- Validation, ideology, and environmental history, 1793-1857 -- Land -- Trade -- Public works -- Disease -- Education -- The 1857 Rebellion. 7. Imperium, 1858-1947 -- The new policy -- Education -- Railways -- Forests -- Public works -- Health -- Famine -- Conclusion. 8. Sri Lanka and Nepal in the modern era -- Sri Lanka -- Nepal -- The Terai -- The hill region -- The mountain region -- Conclusion. 9. Independence and partition -- World War I and the emergence of Gandhi -- Gandhi and the environment -- The environmental consequences of partition -- Partition and the Indus River system -- The partition of Bengal -- Environmental impact on Bangladesh -- Conclusion. 10. South Asia since 1947 -- Public works, industry, and commodification -- Grassroots environmental movements : the example of Chipko -- Natural disasters in independent South Asia -- Conclusion. 12. Case studies -- Case study A : The agrarian system of Mughal India -- The decline of the Mughal agrarian system -- Conclusion -- Case study B : The Permanent Settlement Act and the Kosi River -- The Kosi River -- The permanent settlement in action -- The peasant and riparian cultivation -- The Santals and the Kosi jungles -- Conclusion -- Case study C : Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada Movement) -- The Narmada Bachao Andolan -- Conclusion -- Important people, events, and concepts -- Chronology -- Bibliographic essay -- Bibliography -- Glossay.